Everything about Transylvania totally explained
Transylvania (; or
Ardeal; ; . In other languages: or ; ;, or / ; ) is a
historical region in present-day central
Romania. Outside Romania, it's strongly associated with the novel
Dracula, while within Romania and Hungary the region is known for the scenic beauty of its
Carpathian landscape and its rich
historic heritage.
Etymology
Transylvania was first referred to in a
Medieval Latin document in 1075 as
ultra silvam, meaning "exceedingly forested" (
ultra meaning "excessively or beyond what is common" and the
accusative case of
sylva (sylvam) meaning "wood or forest").
The modern English name is probably taken from the
Hungarian Erdély, which is derived from
Erdő-elve meaning
"beyond the forest" (a meaning first referred to in its Medieval Latin version in a 12th century document -
Gesta Hungarorum). "Transylvania" means "beyond the forest" (
trans meaning "across, over, beyond").
The
German name
Siebenbürgen means "seven fortresses", after the seven (
ethnic German)
Transylvanian Saxons' cities in the region (
Kronstadt,
Schäßburg,
Mediasch,
Hermannstadt,
Mühlbach,
Bistritz and
Klausenburg). This is also the origin of many other language's name for the region, such as the
Polish siedmiogród.
The origin of the
Romanian name
Ardeal is controversial. The first known occurrence of the Romanian name appeared in a document in 1432 as
Ardeliu. It may be a borrowing of the Hungarian name
Erdély, as is the
Romani name
Ardyalo - in old Hungarian,
Erdély was pronounced as
Erdél. The initial
e- in Hungarian occasionally changes to
a in Romanian (cf. Hung.
egres "gooseberry" and
Egyed, which became
agriş and
Adjud in Romanian). Another hypothesis is that the name is a result of an
elision from the words
aur and
deal (gold and hill, respectively), resulting in
Ardeal from the composed word
Aur-deal. It may also take its origin from the Celtic "Arduenna" (forest), reflected in other names such as
Arda,
Ardal,
Ardistan,
Ardiche,
Ardennes,
Ardelt and
Ardilla, or from the
Sanskrit Har-Deal.
See also
other languages.
History
In its early history, the territory of Transylvania belonged to a variety of Empires and States, including
Dacia, the
Roman Empire, the
Hun Empire and the
Gepid Kingdom and the
Bulgarian Empire. As a political entity, (Southern) Transylvania is mentioned from the 12th century as a
county(Alba) of the
Kingdom of Hungary (
M. princeps ultrasilvanus - comes Bellegratae). Transylvania's seven counties were brought under the voivode's (count of
Alba Iulia) rule in 1263.
It then became an autonomous
principality under nominal
Ottoman suzerainty in 1571. A few centuries later, in 1688, it was added to the expanding territories of
Habsburg Monarchy, then became again a part of the
Kingdom of Hungary within the newly established
Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1867. Since
World War I, it has been part of
Romania, apart from a brief period of Hungarian occupation during
World War II.
Cluj-Napoca is today considered to be the region's capital, although Transylvania was also ruled from
Alba Iulia during its period as an autonomous principality within the Ottoman Empire, and from
Sibiu, where the
Habsburg governor was located from 1711 to 1848. The seat of the
Transylvanian Diet was itself moved to Sibiu for some time in the 19th century.
Since medieval times, the population of the region has been a mixture of ethnic
Germans known as
Saxons,
Roma (also known as gypsies), ethnic
Hungarians, including their largest group unique to the region, the
Székely, and ethnic
Romanians, historically known as Vlachs.
The Ancient Kingdom of Dacia and Roman Rule
The
Kingdom of Dacia was in existence at least as early as the beginning of the 2nd century BC, and it reached its maximum extent under the rule of
Burebista. The area now constituting Transylvania was the political center of the ancient kingdom, where several important fortified cities were built, among them
Sarmizegetusa, near today's
Hunedoara.
In 101-102 and 105-106,
Roman forces under the Emperor
Trajan fought a series of
military campaigns to subjugate Dacia. After the suicide of the Dacian ruler
Decebalus, parts of Dacia were incorporated into the Roman province of
Dacia Trajana. The Romans built mines, roads and forts in the province. Colonists from other Roman provinces were brought in to settle the land and cities like
Apulum (now
Alba Iulia) and
Napoca (now
Cluj-Napoca) appeared.
The Dacians rebelled frequently, and due to increasing pressure from the local populace and the
Visigoths, the Romans abandoned the province during the reign of the Emperor
Aurelian in 271. As across much of Europe, a period of chaos and conquests followed after the collapse of Roman rule. The territory fell under the control of the Visigoths and
Carpians until they were in turn displaced and subdued by the
Huns in 376, under the leadership of their infamous warlord
Attila. After the disintegration of Attila's empire, the Huns were succeeded by Gepids of
Eurasian Avar descent. The region was also influenced during this period by massive
Slavic immigration.
At the beginning of the 9th century, Transylvania, along with eastern
Pannonia, was incorporated into the
First Bulgarian Empire. After a brief period of Bulgarian rule, the territory was incorporated into the
Kingdom of Hungary.
Transylvania in the Kingdom of Hungary
The early 11th century was marked by the conflict between
King Stephen I of Hungary and his uncle
Gyula, the ruler of Transylvania. The Hungarian ruler was successful in these wars, and Transylvania became part of the Kingdom of Hungary. The Transylvanian
Christian bishopric and the
comitatus system were organised. By the 12th century the ethnic Hungarian
Szeklers were established in eastern and southeastern Transylvania as a border population of ready warriors, and in the 12th and 13th centuries, the areas in the south and northeast were settled by
German colonists called
Saxons.
In 1241-1242, during the
Mongol invasion of Europe, Transylvania was among the territories devastated by the Golden Horde. A large portion of the population perished. This was followed by a second Mongol invasion in
1285, led by
Nogai Khan.
Following this devastation, Transylvania was reorganized according to a
class system of
Estates, which established privileged groups (
universitates) with power and influence in economic and political life, as well as along ethnic lines. The first Estate was the lay and ecclesiastic aristocracy, ethnically heterogeneous, but undergoing a process of homogenization around its Hungarian nucleus. The other Estates were Saxons, Szeklers and Romanians (or
Vlachs -
Universitas Valachorum), all with an ethnic and ethno-linguistic basis (
Universis nobilibus, Saxonibus, Syculis et Olachis). The general assembly (
congregatio generalis) of the four Estates had few genuine legislative powers in Transylvania, but it sometimes took measures regarding order in the country.
A key figure to emerge in Transylvania in the first half of the 15th century was Iancu de Hunedoara (
John Hunyadi). His military campaigns against the
Ottoman Empire brought him the status of Transylvanian
governor in 1446 and
papal recognition as the
Prince of Transylvania in 1448.
After the suppression of the
Budai Nagy Antal-revolt in 1437, the political system was based on
Unio Trium Nationum (
The Union of the Three Nations). According to the Union, which was explicitly directed against
serfs and other peasants, society was ruled by three
privileged
Estates of the
nobility (mostly ethnic Hungarians), the
Székelys, also an ethnic Hungarian people who primarily served as warriors, and the ethnic German, Saxon
burghers.
The only possibility for Romanians to retain or access nobility in Hungarian Transylvania was through
conversion to
Catholicism. Some
Orthodox Romanian nobles converted, becoming integrated into the Hungarian nobility. These circumstances marked the beginning of a conflict between ethnic Hungarian Catholics and ethnic Romanian Orthodox in the territory of Transylvania which in some regions remains unresolved to this very day.
Transylvania as an Independent Principality
The 16th century in
Southeastern Europe was marked by the struggle between the
Muslim Ottoman Empire and the
Catholic Habsburg Empire. After the Ottoman Sultan
Suleiman the Magnificent overran central Hungary (see
Ottoman Hungary), Transylvania became a semi-independent principality where Austrian and Turkish influences vied for supremacy for nearly two centuries. It is this period of independence and Turkish influence that contributed to Transylvania being seen as
exotic in the eyes of
Victorians such as
Bram Stoker, whose novel
Dracula was published in 1897.
Due to the fact that Transylvania was now beyond the reach of
Catholic religious authority,
Protestant preaching such as
Lutheranism and
Calvinism were able to flourish in the region. In 1568 the
Edict of Turda proclaimed four religious expressions in Transylvania -
Catholicism,
Lutheranism,
Calvinism and
Unitarianism, while
Orthodoxy, which was the confession of the Romanian population, was proclaimed as "tolerated" (
tolerata).
The
Báthory family began to rule Transylvania as princes under the Ottomans in 1571, and briefly under
Habsburg suzerainty until 1600. The latter period of their rule saw a four-sided conflict in Transylvania involving the Transylvanian Báthorys, the emerging
Austrian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Romanian voivoideship (province) of
Wallachia. This included a brief period of Romanian rule after the conquest of the territory by
Wallachian voivod
Michael the Brave.
The
Calvinist magnate of
Bihar county Stephen Bocskai managed to obtain, through the Peace of
Vienna (
June 23,
1606), religious liberty and political autonomy for the region, the restoration of all confiscated estates, the repeal of all "unrighteous" judgments, as well as his own recognition as independent sovereign prince of an enlarged Transylvania. Under Bocskai's successors, Transylvania passed through a
golden age for both many religious movements and for the arts and culture. Transylvania became one of the few European States where
Roman Catholics,
Calvinists,
Lutherans and
Unitarians lived in peace, although
Orthodox Romanians continued to be denied equal recognition.
Within the Habsburg Empire
After the defeat of the Ottomans at the
Battle of Vienna in 1683, the Habsburgs gradually began to impose their rule on the formerly autonomous Transylvania. Apart from strengthening the central government and administration, the Habsburgs also promoted the Roman Catholic Church, both as a uniting force and also as an instrument to reduce the influence of the Protestant nobility. In addition, they tried to persuade Romanian Orthodox clergymen to join the
Greek (Byzantine Rite) Catholic Church in union with Rome. As a response to this policy, several peaceful movements of the Romanian Orthodox population advocated for freedom of worship for all the Transylvanian population, most notably being the movements led by Visarion Sarai, Nicolae Oprea Miclăuş and
Sofronie of Cioara.
From 1711 onward, the princes of Transylvania were replaced with Austrian governors and in 1765 Transylvania was declared a grand principality.
The
revolutionary year 1848 was marked by a great struggle between the Hungarians, the Romanians and the Habsburg Empire. Warfare erupted in November with both Romanian and Saxon troops, under Austrian command, battling the Hungarians led by the Polish born general
József Bem. He carried out a sweeping offensive through Transylvania, and
Avram Iancu managed to retreat to the harsh terrain of the
Apuseni Mountains, mounting a
guerrilla campaign on Bem's forces. After the intervention by the armies of Tsar
Nicholas I of Russia, Bem's army was defeated decisively at the Battle of
Timişoara (Temesvár, Hun.) on
9 August 1849.
Having quashed the revolution, Austria imposed a repressive regime on Hungary, ruled Transylvania directly through a military governor and granted citizenship to the Romanians.
The 300-year long special separate status came to an end by the
Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 (German:
Ausgleich, Hungarian:
Kiegyezés), which established the
dual monarchy and reincorporated Transylvania into the
Kingdom of Hungary. On 20 June 1867, the
Diet was dissolved by royal decree, and an ordinance abrogated the legislative acts of the
Cluj-Napoca provincial assembly. The department of the interior inherited the responsibilities of the
Transylvanian Gubernium, and the government reserved the right to name Transylvania's royal magistrates as well the Saxon bailiff of the Universitas Saxorum. Hungarian legislation also came to supersede the Austrian code of civil procedure, penal law, commercial law, and regulations for bills of exchange. The new unity of Austria-Hungary created a process of Magyarization affecting Transylvania's Romanians and German Saxons.
As Part of Romania
Since the
Austro-Hungarian empire had begun to disintegrate after the end of the
First World War, the nationalities living inside proclaimed their independence from the empire. The 1228-member National Assembly of Romanians of Transylvania and Hungary, headed by leaders of Transylvania's
Romanian National Party and
Social Democratic Party, passed a resolution calling for unification of all Romanians in a single state on
1 December in
Alba Iulia. This was approved by the National Council of the Germans from Transylvania and the Council of the
Danube Swabians from the
Banat, on
15 December in
Mediaş. In response, the Hungarian General Assembly of
Cluj reaffirmed the loyalty of Hungarians from Transylvania to Hungary on
December 22, 1918. (
See also: Union of Transylvania with Romania)
The
Treaty of Versailles placed Transylvania under the sovereignty of Romania, an ally of the
Triple Entente, and after the defeat in 1919 of
Béla Kun's
Hungarian Soviet Republic by the Romanian army, the Treaties of
St. Germain (1919) and
Trianon (signed in June 1920) further elaborated the status of Transylvania and defined the new border between the states of Hungary and Romania. King
Ferdinand I of Romania and Queen
Maria of Romania were crowned at Alba Iulia in 1922 as King and Queen of all Romania.
Transylvania retained a certain degree of
autonomy between December
1918 and April
1920. During this period, a regional government called
The Dirigent Council had competencies in domains such as the public services. First, The Council was located in
Sibiu, then it was moved to
Cluj. The autonomy of Transylvania was finally abolished with the Constitution of 1923. As a result, Transylvanian Romanian leaders
Iuliu Maniu and
Alexandru Vaida-Voevod declared their opposition to the king.
In August 1940, the second
Vienna Award granted the
northern half of Transylvania to
Hungary. After the
Treaty of Paris (1947), at the end of
World War II, the territory was returned to
Romania. The post-WWII borders with
Hungary, agreed on at the Treaty of Paris, were identical with those set out in 1920.
After World War II and especially after the fall of Communism, Transylvania lost almost all of the German-speaking population, most of whom have emigrated to Germany.
From the late 1990s a growing number of ethnic Hungarian political leaders have pressed for
decentralization and
devolution in Transylvania.
Historical coat of arms of Transylvania
The
Diet of 1659 codified the representation of the privileged nations in Transylvania's
coat of arms. It depicts:
- A black turul on a blue background, representing the medieval nobility, which was primarily Magyar.
- The Sun and the Moon representing the Székelys.
- Seven red towers on a yellow background representing the seven fortified cities of the Transylvanian Saxons
(The red dividing band was originally not part of the coat of arms.)
Image:Coat of arms of Transylvania.svg|Coat of Arms of 1659
Image:Flag of Transylvania before 1918.svg|Landesfarben of Transylvania in Austria-Hungary, reflecting the tinctures of the coat-of-arms
Image:Coat of Arms Kingdom of Hungary.jpg|As part of the coat of arms of Hungary before the Treaty of Trianon in 1920
Image:Coat_of_arms_of_Romania.svg|As in the coat of arms of Romania at present
Geography and ethnography
The Transylvanian plateau, 300 to 500 metres (1,000-1,600 feet) high, is drained by the
Mureş,
Someş,
Criş, and
Olt rivers, as well as other tributaries of the
Danube. This core of historical Transylvania roughly corresponds with nine counties of modern Romania. Other areas to the west and north, which also united with Romania in 1918 (inside the border established by peace treaties in 1919-20), are since that time widely considered part of Transylvania.
Transylvania proper:
Banat
Crişana
Maramureş
See also Administrative divisions of the Kingdom of Hungary. In common reference, the Western border of Transylvania has come to be identified with the present Romanian-Hungarian border, settled in the Treaty of Trianon, although geographically the two are not identical.
Administrative divisions
The historical region covers 16 present-day counties (Romanian: judeţ) which include nearly 103,600 km² of central and northwest Romania. The 16 counties are:
Alba
Arad
Bihor
Bistriţa-Năsăud
Braşov
Caraş-Severin
Cluj
Covasna
Harghita
Hunedoara
Maramureş
Mureş
Sălaj
Satu Mare
Sibiu
Timiş
The most populous cities are:
Cluj-Napoca (318,027)
Timişoara (317,651)
Braşov (283,901)
Oradea (206,527)
Arad (172,824)
Sibiu (155,045)
Târgu Mureş (149,577)
Baia Mare (137,976)
Satu Mare (115,630)
Population
Historic definitions of Transylvania vary geographically. The 2002 Romanian census classified Transylvania as the entire region of Romania west of the Carpathians. This region has a population of 7,221,733, with a large Romanian majority (74.69%). There are also sizeable Hungarian (19.60%), Roma (3.39%), German (0.73%) and Serb (0.1%) communities. The ethnic Hungarian population of Transylvania, largely composed of Székely, form a majority in the counties of Covasna and Harghita.
The percentage of Romanians has increased since the union of Transylvania with Romania after World War I in 1918. This is due to the emigration of non-Romanian peoples, the extermination of the local Jewish population in the Holocaust, assimilation and internal migration within Romania (estimates show that between 1945 and 1977, some 630,000 people moved from the Old Kingdom to Transylvania, and 280,000 from Transylvania to the Old Kingdom, most notably to Bucharest). The assimilation process for Hungarians slowed during the first stages of the communist era, when most of the region's ethnic Hungarian population was granted nominal political autonomy, but accelerated under the Ceauşescu regime.
For people connected to Transylvania's cultural life see: List of Transylvanians.
Economy
Transylvania is rich in mineral resources, notably lignite, iron, lead, manganese, gold, copper, natural gas, salt and sulfur.
There are large iron and steel, chemical, and textile industries. Stock raising, agriculture, wine production and fruit growing are important occupations. Timber is another valuable resource.
Transylvania accounts for around 35% of Romania's GDP, and has a GDP per capita (PPP) of around $11,500, around 10% higher than the Romanian average.
Tourist attractions
The medieval cities of Alba Iulia, Cluj-Napoca, Sibiu (European Capital Of Culture-2007), Târgu Mureş and Sighişoara
The city of Braşov and the nearby Poiana Braşov ski resort
The city of Hunedoara with the 14th century Hunyadi Castle
The citadel and the Art Nouveau city centre of Oradea
The Wooden Churches of the Maramureş region
The Dacian Fortresses of the Orăştie Mountains, including Sarmizegetusa
The Saxon fortified churches
Hungarian traditions and folk culture
The cafe culture (External Link
), street theatre and cosmopolitan society of Sibiu
image:Timisoara cathedral.jpg|Orthodox Cathedral in Timişoara
Image:Arad cultural center.jpg|Arad cultural center
Image:Sârbi Josani.jpg|Wooden church in Maramureş
image:CJROothodox.jpg|Orthodox Cathedral in Cluj-Napoca
Image:Arad evangelic church.jpg|Arad Evangelical church
Image:Bran Castle.jpg|Bran Castle
image:Biserica neagra 1.JPG|Black Church in Braşov
image:Centru bv.JPG|Braşov Council Square (Piaţa Sfatului)
image:CJROcatholic.jpg|Catholic Church in Cluj-Napoca
Image:Oradea theatre.jpg|The Theatre in Oradea
Image:OradeaTownHall.jpg|The town hall in Oradea
Image:DaciaSatuMare.jpg|Dacia Hotel in Satu Mare
image:Sibiu.jpg|View of Sibiu
Image:Sighişoara clock tower.jpg|Sighişoara clock tower
Image:Sighisoara IMG 5624.jpg|View of Sighişoara
Image:Timisoara Dome.jpg|The Catholic Cathedral in Timişoara
Transylvania in fiction
Transylvania's long history of Muslim Turkish influence, as well as its late industrialization (which meant that in the late 19th century, Transylvania was still mostly covered with wilderness), created an orientalist fascination with the region by a number of notable Victorian writers. Following the publication of Emily Gerard's The Land Beyond the Forest (1888), Bram Stoker wrote his gothic horror novel Dracula in 1897, using Transylvania as a setting. Due to the success of the latter work, Transylvania became associated in the English-speaking world with vampires. Since then it has been represented in fiction and literature as a land of mystery and magic. For example, in Paulo Coelho's novel The Witch of Portobello, the main character, Sherine Khalil, is described as a Transylvanian orphan with a Romani mother, in an effort to add to the character's exotic mystique. The so-called Transylvanian triology of historical novels by Miklos Banffy, The Writing on the Wall, is an extended treatment of the 19th and early 20th century social and political history of the country.
Further Information
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